Little Mac
Little Mac is the protagonist in the NES classic Punch-Out!!. He is, as his name implies, a rather small character, though his dream is to become the best boxer in the Boxing circuit. During the game, he is trained by Doc Louis, another popular character in the series. Little Mac is supposedly 17 years old, and only 4 feet, 8 inches (5'7" in the Wii version of Punch-Out!!) and 107 pounds. He was born in the Bronx, New York, and wishes to one day be a member of the World Video Boxing Association. While in New York City, he traveled the area in search of a trainer, though was rejected at least 200 times. However, a previous boxing pro named Jerome "Doc" Louis decided to help him. Ultimately it was up to the player to determine if Little Mac accomplished this goal of his, and if the player was good, he'd be required to go up against the toughest fighter of them all, Mr. Dream. First Appearances In 1984, the arcade game, Punch-Out!!, was released. Players assumed the role of an unnamed green-haired boxer who was striving to become the champ. In that game, the challenger had to fight against six boxers. Four of those boxers - Glass Joe, Piston Hurricane, Bald Bull, and Mr. Sandman - would appear in future Punch-Out!! titles. In 1985, there was a sequel to the arcade game called Super Punch-Out!!. In this game, the challenger boxed against five opponents. All five of these boxers were to appear in later titles in the series. They were Bear Hugger, Dragon Chan, Vodka Drunkenski (who is better known as Soda Popinski in the NES version), Great Tiger, and Super Macho Man. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out In 1987, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out was released, and this marked the first game where the challenger whom the player controls gained an identity. This is the game where Little Mac gets his name and his background. Because this is the only Punch-Out game where the controlled boxer has a name, all Punch-Out!! games have dubbed the main challenger the name of Little Mac. Little Mac was no taller than 5 feet, and barely weighed over 100 pounds, but his ultimate dream was to become the heavyweight champion of the World Video Boxing Association (WVBA). Having Doc Louis, a retired pro boxer, as his boxing coach, Little Mac trained day and night for the challenges in the ring. Boxers such as Glass Joe, Bald Bull, Mr. Sandman, and Super Macho Man make their appearances in this game. Other notable boxers that challenged Little Mac were King Hippo and Japanese boxer Piston Honda. Little Mac worked his way up, earning titles from the Minor Circuit, the Major Circuit, and the World Circuit, until finally he made it to the Dream Fight, the fight which determined who would be the new heavyweight champion of the WVBA. Mike Tyson was a special character added to the game to be the last boxer. But when Nintendo's license to have Tyson as a special character expired in 1990, a new and official Nintendo character, Mr. Dream, replaced Tyson. So officially, it is Mr. Dream who Little Mac had to defeat in order to become champion. Super Punch-Out!! Super Punch-Out!! for the SNES featured a blond-haired boxer named by the player. When Fight Night: Round 2 was released in 2005, the GameCube version included Super Punch-Out!! and that game's protagonist as an unlockable character. This game claims that this character is "Little Mac" (or simply "Mac" according to the boxers he wears), but as the Fight Night series was not made or released by Nintendo, this is not considered canon. Nintendo hasn't confirmed whether or not that this is the remake of the original Little Mac. However, when the SNES version of Super Punch-Out!! was released for the Virtual Console on the Wii, the official game details from the Wii Shop Channel referred to that blond boxer as "Little Mac". This has caused many people to question this because the protagonist of the game has a completely different look. Punch-Out!! (Wii) Fans clammored for the return of Little Mac, and Nintendo thankfully honored their wish when Next Level Games and Nintendo announced a new Punch-Out for the Wii titled, simply, Punch-Out!!. The game would, once more, feature Little Mac as the game's protagonist. In this game he, and all the other characters, are represented in a 3-D cel-shaded manner (similar to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker). His goal is once again to climb to the top of the ranks, defeating all of the wacky opponents along the way. The game is generally considered to be a remake of the original NES games. Because of this the player will encounter many characters from those games. Little Mac returns in his original NES appearance, but this time, it is modified. In this new version, he is taller than in the NES version, he has a tan, and he has a different hairdo, as seen on the right. However, in the game, he is mute and only makes a few sounds such as grunting and hollering. ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' In Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, Little Mac appears as one of the many Assist Trophies. In the game he is very small as his name suggests. After he appears out of an Assist Trophy, he'll rush towards the closest opponent, give a few jabs then send him or her soaring with an uppercut. On the Smash Bros. Dojo he was announced on October 18, 2007. The sounds Little Mac makes when he punches are taken directly from the NES games. Trophy description A lightweight scrapper from the Bronx. After meeting with a former boxing great named Doc Louis who fell from glory, Mac takes Doc on as his coach, and together the pair try for the championship belt in the WVBA. Little Mac works his way up the ranks of the WVBA, taking out foes several times his size. By landing multiple blows, Little Mac gains a "★''" uppercut.'' Other Appearances *Little Mac was featured as the protagonist in the Punch-Out!! stories featured in Valiant Comics' Nintendo Comics System, appearing in the stories "The First Fight", "Outsiders", and "Fox and Hounds". *Little Mac makes a cameo in the prologue short of the Captain N comic books, suggesting that his stories are canonical to the Captain N continuity, although he never showed up in any of the actual Captain N stories (nor did King Hippo, a Captain N regular, appear in the Punch-Out!! stories). *Little Mac appears in one of 9-Volt's microgames in WarioWare: Smooth Moves. *Little Mac appears in the Wii game, Captain Rainbow, as a supporting character. In the game, he travels to Minmin Island to once again become World Champion. However, he has gained a lot of weight over the years, and the protagonist, Nick (aka, "Captain Rainbow") helps whip him back into shape. In the game Little Mac was considered a forgotten character, or rather one that hasn't appeared in a video game in quite some time. Months later Nintendo announced Punch-Out!! for the Wii. *Little Mac of course appeared in the re-release of Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream on the Virtual Console and in Animal Crossing (though receiving the game in Animal Crossing is seemingly impossible without using an Action Replay, despite the game appearing in the Nintendo Power Player Guide). External Links *[http://punchout.wikia.com/wiki/Little_Mac Little Mac article at Punch-Out!! Wiki] Category: Punch-Out!! fighters Category: Protagonists Category: Assist Trophies Category: Super Smash Bros. trophies Category: Captain Rainbow characters Category: Playable characters Category:Punch-Out!! characters